We had a great weekend. It felt so good to get out and be together. The ultimate would have been to have our own apartment to come home to, but in time we’ll get that too.

Nonetheless, it was just a good weekend. Wednesday night Will wanted to see a movie. It was “opening night” for Monster In-Law and The Longest Yard so it was pretty much between those two. I really really really didn’t want to see Monster In-Law for personal reasons (don’t worry- I won’t get into that), but you’ll never guess what Will wanted to see… Yep… Monster In-Law. That’s true love right there- to sit through that movie with Will. Actually it was really good.

So then we came back to the apartment and uncomfortably had cake and ice cream with my family. I haven’t had a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake in ages. It was divine. I think I’ll have to start celebrating half birthdays and random holidays like Secretary Week so we have an excuse to go out and buy a cake. After that we just sat around and called it a night.

Thursday we had our famous phone call and Will got to talk to his family and see what all was going on with Will’s fam. We went back to sleep for a few more hours and then I forced Will out of bed by playing a game of bowling on my phone’s loudest setting. We got up and got around and then went to Hard Rock for lunch. It was so much fun. After that we went and saw yet another movie!We opted for The Longest Yard. It was really good.

We headed back to the apartment and then the “fun” began- we sat down to a very important business meeting to talk about the draft coming up in our league. Will made me get my magazine that I have been so avidly reading and researching (wink wink) and a notebook so we could analyze and discuss what players we want and when we want to draft them.

This stuff is quite a process! I am a person of intense order. I call my planner “the second Bible.” I always have to have a plan. Fantasy Football (yes, I know I’m capitalizing it as if it were a real day) Draft Day is anything but structure! You have no idea what these other 11 guys are going to take so you have to have several options lined up incase they take “your” guy. Wow. I ended up having so much fun though! I can’t believe I just said that! I actually had a good time looking though our magazines, reading about players and then discussing if we should consider them or not. We were about an hour in and Will was like, “Let’s put it away for tonight. I don’t want you to get burned out.” I had to laugh to myself because in all honesty I could have went another hour and been fine. Oh well. It was probably a good idea because I may be singing a whole different tune in a few weeks when draft day starts.

Well, today is our last day of the weekend, which saddens me. I always think as I write my posts on Friday that as I am ending my weekend you all are preparing to start yours!Today is just a lazy day. We have the apartment to ourselves which is nice. Will is playing his game- for the first time this weekend! I was shocked because I thought since it was “his” weekend he would have wanted to play more. So, while he’s doing that I’m siezing the opportunity to use the computer while I still have the chance. Will has to work tonight which is a bummer, so I will be on my own tonight- kind of.

So, that was our weekend in a nut shell. Nothing too extra-special, but just what we needed. thanks for all the sweet wishes. Have a great weekend.

I’m sure you are tired of the many times I talk about this topic- welcome to my world. The guy is obsessed.

Yesterday “it” came in the mail. The all new NCAA 2006 Race for the Heisman football game for playstation2. Happy Birthday to Will. He got a super nice football card- one that required a second mortgage to get (just kidding) to add to his collection and then he got “the” game in the mail- and his birthday is still a few days away!

Anyway, Will looks forward to this day (and also August when Madden ‘06 comes out) every year. He has it marked down and know exactly when it goes on sale, preorders it, and watches the mail each day to see if its come. It’d almost be cute if it didn’t consume his every waking hour. I have to admit, this game is the coolest by far though. That’s the hard part for me. I do get excited for him because I know he loves it so much and this is the closest thing to football he’ll get over here (unless you see soccer as the “real football,” and believe me, Will doesn’t). I get all excited to see the new features he’s found and I want to see everything all at once. Then once I’ve seen everything new I’m sick of it within a week because I know everything there is to know! I know its his hobby and so I just need to let him be, but he really likes when I sit and watch him and cheer him on- yes my grown husband can revert to childlike tendencies when it comes to his video games. Its like he thinks I’m actually in the stands watching “him” play out there. With this new game you can create your own player, which he did and it looks exactly like him, so now I guess I really AM watching him play. What a strange thing. And guys think we’re weird. Hmm.

So Will is the newest middle linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners. He has his own freshman dorm room, gets fan mail, has a meter to show him how close he is to winning the Heisman… and yet I continue to wonder about the strange attatchment he has for the game. I guess its obivious- they gave him his own living quarters and a fan base for crying out loud!

EA Sports has really done it this time. (full of sarcasm) Way to go guys

Good afternoon, morning or whatever other day word you would like to insert. Finally the weekend for us!

Well I got a little bite about a possible job, which was really encouraging but I haven’t heard anything since yesterday. We’ll see. I don’t want to get all excited about something that may not pan out, but at least I’ve heard something. I am hoping this guy will call me today with some more information, so I’ll keep you all updated.

On to the fun and exciting stuff (yes, I finally have something in my life that deals with the words fun and exciting, can you believe it!?)!

Will is a HUGE sports fan. He is already making trades with his online fantasy league to get ready for something that doesn’t even start until September. Its amazing- when I want to discuss things that deal with the future, he claims I’m guilty of looking too far ahead and worrying about things that are a while away, yet when it comes to fantasy football, “you have to start getting ready early! No one ever got ahead just standing around and not preparing, Britt.” Wow. Such wonderful life lessons from fantasy football. If only I could get him to apply that to everything else.

Well, anyway, Will and I are SUPER excited today! Hes a huge Brett Farve fan (what football guy isn’t? I once had the most homophobic guy I know say he would totally marry the man), and this is most likely his last season in the NFL. Will and I have been talking about flying into Wisconsin and making a quick trip to a game on our way home during Christmas.

Will has been avidly looking for tickets on ebay, and yesterday he found a pair for the December 11 game against the Detroit Lions. He called me, we talked about it and decided to bid. The best part was that they were on the 50 yard line- you can’t get any more awesome seats than that right!? We were totally excited about them, but realized that there would be a good chance that we’d get outbid and the price would skyrocket. We talked about it some more and decided it wasn’t going to be worth spending our unnborn and yet to be considered child’s nonexistent college fund, so we decided we would just type in our highest bid and log off and not look until morning. If we got up in the morning and won, we would be totally excited, but if not, we would find other tickets anyway.

All evening Will was so giddy. He was trying to downplay it and not act like he was totally excited about seeing Brett Farve play on the 50 yard like during the snow storm of the century, but I knew he was. So, my heart was running over just seeing how estatic he was about these tickets, so after he went to bed I thought I would do some sleuth work.

I thought I would get on and check to see where the bidding was at and if we were going to get the tickets. If we weren’t, I thought I would up our bid a little. I think Will would have thanked me later. Its better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? (I’m just kidding)

So I got on ebay and tried to log Will in, but that goof changed his password because he knew I would try to get on and secure the tickets. Such a smart man. I went to bed last night with the feeling that we were going to get them and hoped I would be right. Will called me this morning from work to tell me that we officially have plans for December 11! We will be joining the other crazy cheese heads and Farve fanatics in the frozen tundra for a great game!

So, that is my fun and exciting news!

Today is Will’s living expense check day, which means we are getting a night on the town… with my parents. He told me he was going to take me on a date this weekend- all alone, no parents, no sister, just Will and Brittny, so that is something totally to look forward to. This will be our first alone date since we’ve been here. Its so funny, most people have kids when they talk about this stuff, instead I’m talking about my parents inturrupting us, and not a baby.

This weekend left Will looking at each other and simply saying, “Wow, this was a great weekend.” There was nothing overly enexpected or exciting about our trip, but it was just a great weekend.

It started out special. After class I met will for a quick bite at Wendy’s. He told me he bought something for me and wanted me to hear it after lunch. So, we went out to his car and he told me he bought this cd because it had this song on it that reminded him of us. It was Keith Urban’s “Making Memories of Us.” I listened to it and started crying. It was so sweet that he surprised me with that. What a way to start a great weekend. After that I had to rush off because I had a hair appointment. My hair lady is so great. She was so excited about will and I’s adventure. Her parents are missionaires in Africa, so she was really glad for us and the opportunity to get out of Oklahoma for a while and travel and just do this awesome thing together.

After my hair appointment I went by my mom’s office to order the dress I had wanted from Ann Taylor. Yay! Then I cam home, will and I packed and we were off.

Our first stop was Quail Springs mall. I had a gift certificate from my favorite store, the Limited, to use before we move, so that was a blast! I got 2 cute pairs of capris, 3 cute little shell tops in different colors, another shirt and some earrings. IT was fun, and by then my gift card was blown. Anyway, so then we went to our hotel.

I had never stayed at the Waterford, so it was so fun. It was really pretty. We checked in and then went downstairs to Bellinis. We were starved! We are used to eating around 5:30 and by then it was well after 7, so we were so hungry we didn’t even really enjoy the atmosphere. We were concentrated on our food. It was really good, I will miss that place when we go- even though I’ve only been twice.

The next day was great. We went downstairs for breakfast- which was really yummy. After that, we checked out and headed to Norman. On the way, Will was listening to the radio and heard that the 3 living OU Heisman trophy winners from OU were signing autographs at Coach’s restaurant… so of course we had to go!

Will was like a little kid- it was adorable. He was all smiles. his dimples were in rare form. There was this limited edition lithograph picture thing that you could get signed, and of course it was the most expensive. Will really wanted it, so we decided to get it. I mean, he is going to be away from OU football for a while, how could I say no? We went it and got it autographed. Will shook Jason White’s hand and was like, “I really have enjoyed watching you play.” After we got done, he was so cute. He was like, “I shook Jason White’s hand!” HE got a little star struck to say the least. I was really happy for him, because it was a big thing for him to give up OU for a while. (I know to most that sounds silly, but when you live in Oklahoma… that is what you do). So anyway, we went to the game and met up with one of Will’s friends from high school that had drove down from Kansas. IT was good to see him and his wife. It was just good catching up on everything. His wife started selling Mary Kay too, so we had a lot to talk about… she is doing really well. I on the other hand, am not at the moment! Too much going on. The game was fun. There is just something being in that stadium and watching those guys play that gets you fired up. Like I said, OU is like our NFL team. It was great. I will really miss going ot all the games. I know Will will too. We had a lot of fun on those days!

After the game, we had to make a stop at Ted’s. I mean afterall, we won’t be able to go there for a while so we have to eat there every chance we can get! To say the least, I blew my diet as you can tell!

After that we headed home and stopped my will’s parent’s to show off his new treasure. They were impressed, but Will’s brother wasn’t (he is a vet student at OSU… talk about bedlam).

Sunday was pretty normal, except now our news is out in the open. IT was a mixed response… I won’t go into detail- it would take forever. I got a lot of questions about going over there with my blonde hair. They asked me if I was going to color it… I’m thinking no.

Anyway, there is so much more I want to write about all of that and the rest of the weekend, but I better move on and get started on what I really need to be doing on the computer.

I’m sitting in my parent’s house for probably the last time. Boy is that strange! I went to the cabinent to get something out, and then I realized that nothing would be there. There has always been a mirror in the hallway that I would glance at each time I walked by, but it’s gone. IT’s just such a different feeling. You don’t realize how big a house is until everything is out of it. I am excited about thie new huge change, but I am a “golden retreiver.” I am just kind of loyal to what I am used to and don’t do major change all that well. That is not bad, it just makes me different from some- like Will who will be sad but is ready to leave.

I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to those who have posted encouraging feedback the past few days. So many people where I am from just don’t get why we are doing this, so it has been nice to hear from people outside of my everyday life who can see things from another perspective. Talk about refreshing!

I want to leave you with just a last thought about my house. It is bittersweet. It is a speech I gave my 2nd year of college. I was going to doctor it up a bit because I think I’m a better writer now than I was back then, but I decided to leave it. As you will find out, the ending today is different then the ending when I wrote it- a little sader today! But nonetheless, it says kind of what I’m feeling now! I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks for listening! Have a great afternoon.

I’ve moved around a lot in my life. A whole lot I should say. My dad was in the military for 20 years, so my entire life that was the only lifestyle I knew. In fact, I just thought everyone moved as much as my family did. I didn’t know any different. To stay stationary didn’t seem normal. Now, when I say I moved around a lot as a kid I wasn’t lying. By the time I reached the 5th grade I had been in 9 different schools. That almost averages out at 2 a year. Moving was a normal thing, so each school change eventually became more of a minor transition to adjust to rather than the “end all be all” of my career as an elementary schooler. I had come to understand that the friends I made at school would only be temporary playmates, and that pen pals didn’t last forever. By then I had learned the basics, so adjusting to a new school had become a routine of simple rules to remember. I knew to never sit by the kid who ate paste, being picked as the helper for the week gave you instant popularity, and I learned that having the brand new box of 64 crayons with the sharpener on the back was the only box to have.

However, by 4th grade I began to realize that “normal” people’s families did not move around all the time. In fact- all of the friends I had come to know had lived in the same place all of their lives. It was then I realized that maybe moving so much was not normal. In the middle of my 4th grade year I got the news that I had come accustomed to hearing every couple of years or so- we were moving. However, this time the news hurt. I was tired of getting dragged around to new towns and schools. I wanted to stay in one place like everyone else. I was tired of getting comfortable only to leave what began to become familiar.

We were moving to Oklahoma this time. It had seemed as if the joke I had always heard about this town had come true- it’s a black hole and no matter how many times you leave- you always come back. I had been there 3 times before, but this time we would be staying for 3 years. We moved in the middle of summer, which gave us time to move in and get ready for the school year. Now, because my family moved around so much we always lived in the military post’s temporary houses. However, for some reason, this time my parents decided to go house hunting. I was very unfamiliar with this house-hunting concept. We arrived in town and began looking at houses. We had been looking for 10 days in the middle of the sweltering Oklahoma summer. That year records had been broken for high temperatures. Getting in and out of the car and into the hellish heat became tedious. The 10th day, my mom had had it. We came to a house that had just been built. We toured it and liked it. I will never forget what my mom said to my dad after looking at the house driving to our hotel. She said, “It’s a nice house in a nice neighborhood. It’s too hot and I’m tired of looking. Besides, we’ll only be here 3 years. Let’s get it.” So we did. The next day we went to the realtor and bought the house. Our first house as a family- finally no temporary army house. We actually had a house. Now, you may be thinking, “It’s just a house- why in the world did you get so excited?” To me, buying that house meant that things wouldn’t be so temporary. We would actually be here for a while. My family had never gotten too comfortable in one place, and now, it seemed as if we had. We actually had our own place. A place where there were no rules- we could paint the walls if we wanted to, and we could park our cars anyway we chose to. We had finally settled in to a place that I knew I would want to get used to.

That fall I started my 5th grade year at one of the local elementary schools. I met wonderful friends that were not so temporary and made good memories. I finished up my grade school days at there and prepared to get ready for junior high. Now, it had been planned that after my 7th grade year we would probably move. I blocked it from my mind. I did not want to leave the life I had begun to build. My 7th grade year came and went without mention of moving. Each time my father had the opportunity to pick the top three places he would want to get transferred to, this town would be at the top of the list. We became active members of our church and made several close friends through the activities there. My little sister finished her first year at the same elementary school I had as I finished my first year of junior high. A lot of transitions began occurring in my life. I had a close circle of friends, I became a teenager, and I got heavily involved in school activities.

The years came and went. Many changes occurred in those years- some good and some bad. However there was a constant that remained- through everything, life still went on, and it went on in our house- here in my little town. At that point I had grown to be a junior in high school. Our family joke had become the fact that we somehow remained here after all of these years. We should have moved 2 years earlier, yet we remained. It’s almost as if my mom’s statement of only staying temporarily became an ironic falsity. By this time we came to love this place, the place we previously deemed the black hole. Moving was no longer a fear of mine. I knew for as long as I lived in here that red brick house on the west side of town would be mine. However, that year a turning point occurred in my family. My dad had reached his 20 years in the military. He was faced with a choice. He was up for promotion. If he took it we would have to move to Kansas for 6 months. After those 6 months there would be a few more moves over a short time span. His other option would be to retire and look for a new job. After many conversations, and after much prayer, my father retired from the military the summer after my junior year and began a job hunt. My dad didn’t find much here, but an opportunity came for him to get a job in Dallas. Regardless of where my dad got a job, we all agreed the rest of the family would remain here so that I could finish my last year of high school here. After all, I had finally remained in a school system for over 6 years, and had friends I had known since grade school. I had found my niche and wasn’t about to leave it behind my last year. I wanted to walk across the stage with the people I had literally grown up with.

My dad began his job in Dallas, working there all week and returing home on the weekends. My family decided that after I graduated they would move to Dallas. My senior year my parents spent a lot of weekends house hunting for the right place. This made me somewhat sad. I knew I’d be in college, so where my parents lived shouldn’t really matter, but for some reason it did. This town was an anchor point for me. If my parents were not there, I wouldn’t have any reason to stay. I wanted them to stay in here, in the house we had built together. Where we celebrated Christmases, and had family come visit us. Where I had dozens of sleepovers and movie nights. Where I arrived home to after going on my first date, getting my license, and eventually my diploma. The thought of that brick house on the west side of town not being ours was something I couldn’t think of. Moving took on a different meaning to me as I reached my senior year. It was something I had forgotten how to do. It was something I didn’t want to do. I simply couldn’t imagine driving by that house seeing different cars in the driveway, different flowers in the beds, and different people in the windows, where new colors decked the wall and different aromas filled the house. That house was not just a place I lived in like all of the others, it had become our home, a place where I knew we’d be forever. A place where my best friend, my sister, lived just up the hall. That house was where I grew up. It was my family’s home and the symbol of the place we knew we could always return to and would always be accepted at.

My senior year came and went, and as it came closer to the time to move, my family couldn’t seem to leave. P, my sister, loved her school. We loved our church. We loved our life here. Oklahoma had become our home, and leaving it didn’t seem natural. So, my family decided to stay here, and I decided to attend college and remain close to home. Things are still as normal, and I still live in that red brick house on the west side of town.

Now, if you were to drive by my house you would simply see a house. And I guess that’s pretty much all it is. However, when I drive by my house I see the love and joy of many wonderful years my family has built on. I see a place that after many years of moving, I knew that we would always be here. That brings me to the moral of my story. Home is where the heart is. Home is the place you cannot imagine leaving. Regardless of where we may have moved, we would have been “okay, ” but over the many years we spent in here, it became close to our heart. So, remember that home is where your heart is. I hope you have found a place for your heart as my family has found for ours.

This weekend was an emotional one, but has ended well. I will start with the sad and end with the good- that’s how I like things, with a happy ending.

Friday afternoon was a very sad day at my parent’s house. We put our faithful friend of 5 years, Cleo the dog, to sleep. If you are a dog lover you now hate us, but if you have ever had to do it, you can sympathize with how painful it can be. I spent all afternoon at my parent’s empty house (the movers had come that morning) and played with cleo, and just loved on her. It was good for me to do that- that was a good last memory. My whole family went to the vet to put her down, but Will and I stayed home. I’m glad I did. I wouldn’t have wanted to see her like that… So as you can see, my Friday was a very sad day.

I have cried a lot this week about my family moving and how I just can’t call up my sister to go shopping or just hang out or whatever, and Will has really helped me feel better. I know that we can get through anything, no matter how hard its been.

So to cheer me up, we spent all Friday just holding eachother and watching funny shows and movies. I started to get bored so Will and I pulled out this ancient electric football game I didn’t even know he had. It was so cute- he had had it since he was a little kid. He takes such good care of his stuff- even as a kid- everything was still packaged like new. It takes forever to set your players up, and then the “field” vibrates and moves all of the players- it was a very long process because after each play you have to stop and reset up each man. We never even scored a touchdown- Will kicked a field goal. It was fun- talk about 80s nostalgia.

We got good news today- can’t say yet, but there will be more to come- this truly cheered me up!

I would now like to take this time to honor the wonderful man Will. He was a good man, and no one could love me better. I always knew there was a risk of losing him to this illness if we married, but love was too strong.

This past fall, the illness grew worse than ever before. Before we were married, it was bad, and I was always there to support him- even during the painful hours of the NFL draft and the embarassing OU vs LSU national championship game, but during the fall- it got worse.

Soon, we received season tickets and were taking weekly trips to Norman for treatment. Oh the agony I felt every Saturday there was an away game! Preparing frozen pizzas and ordering boneless wings… for fear this may be his last meal…

And then, to my dismay college football was over and with the horrible loss to USC he grew weaker… but then the NFL season began, and I thought for sure this would be it.

Fantasy leagues with his friends continued to spread the epidemic. Now, we had to put him on life support ( ie: buy NFL Sunday ticket on DirecTV) in order for him to get through the week. He was up to a 10 or 12 games a week. Now, his fantasy friends were coming over, spreading the germs and making him worse. There had to be an end in sight, but sadly- as I had known for a long time but didn’t want to accept- there is a sport for every season. It was finished.

Sadly, the day has come and he has gone away from us- to the the couch… where he anxiously awaits the NCAA basketball championship, with hopes of beating me in our bracket challenge. I can not cry, because I knew this day was coming. Oh the agony of having a lifeless husband during the NCAA tournament! Will it ever end?